Virender Sehwag, a former Indian opening batter, strongly criticized Sam Curran’s performance in IPL 2024. The all-rounder from Punjab Kings received harsh remarks from Sehwag. He declared that Curran’s mediocre display across batting and bowling doesn’t justify his inclusion in the team.
At a staggering price of INR 18.5 crore, Punjab Kings acquired the 25-year-old Englishman before IPL 2023. Despite an underwhelming previous season, they retained him for the current edition. While Sam Curran has taken 11 wickets at an average of 19.18 in eight IPL 2024 matches, his batting has been subpar, scoring only 152 runs at an average of 19.00.
Speaking to Cricbuzz, Sehwag acknowledged that Curran is an underwhelming player. He lacks the ability to decisively influence matches as an elite performer with bat or ball.
“I wouldn’t keep Sam Curran as a batting all-rounder or a bowling all-rounder. Because such a player is of no use, who does some batting and some bowling. Either you win the game with your batting or win the game with your bowling. Either you hit the bullseye or you don’t perform at all.”
Virender Sehwag
While given the captain’s role due to Shikhar Dhawan’s injury, the Surrey all-rounder has struggled. Yet, Punjab Kings haven’t won since he took charge as skipper.
“Anything above 160 would have been a par total” – Sam Curran
Following their three-wicket loss against Gujarat Titans on Sunday in Mullanpur, the youngster acknowledged that opposition spinners restricted them. He felt they were 10-15 runs short of a competitive total. PBKS scored 142 runs after electing to bat first. Eventually, they lost the match by three wickets.
The southpaw stated during the post-match presentation:
“The effort with the ball was incredible, the commitment and fight was amazing, but it was not enough. The Afghanistan spinners are world class bowlers and Sai Kishore bowled really well, credit to them. That is the third time we have used that pitch, anything above 160 would have been a par total but we still fought well.”
Sam Curran
The Punjab Kings are currently ranked ninth in the points table, ahead of Royal Challengers Bangalore.